Abstract
Food insecurity remains a major challenge among rural farming households in Nigeria, with poor access to markets as a key driver. This study examined the effect of market access on the food security of rural farmers in Yewa Division of Ogun State, Nigeria. It assessed how market-related factors influence the ability of farming households to consistently access sufficient and nutritious food. Primary data were collected from 110 farming households using a multistage sampling technique. The Market Access Index (MAI) was used to measure the level of market access, while the Food Security Index (FSI) was used to determine households’ food security status. A logistic regression model was applied to examine its effect on household food security. The MAI results showed that most households (51.8%) had a medium level of market access, 28.2% had high access, and 20.0% had low access. The FSI findings showed that 55.45% of the households were food secure, while 44.55% were food insecure. The regression results indicate that the age of the household head has a negative effect on food security (odds ratio ≈ 0.54, p < 0.10), implying that older farmers are less likely to be food secure. Education has a positive impact (odds ratio ≈ 1.18, p < 0.01), with each extra year of schooling raising the odds of food security. Physical market access also shows a strong positive effect (odds ratio ≈ 1.37, p < 0.01), suggesting that better roads, shorter distances to markets, and access to storage facilities increase the odds of food security. Institutional access (odds ratio ≈ 1.11, p < 0.10) further supports this. The study concludes that improved market access and education enhance food security and recommends greater investment in rural infrastructure and farmer support services.